


Baby’s First Trip To The Zoo

by TheSelfHatingAngelOfThursday



Category: Supernatural
Genre: As everything is these days, Canon Divergent, Cas is an exception because he witnessed the creation of most animals, Cas still likes bees, F/M, Fluff, Jack Kline is utterly adorable, Light crack, M/M, Mild ablism mention, None of them have ever been to the zoo before, Pressed Pennies, Sam Winchester owns a coin purse, Someone simply assumes something about Jack and Cas, Zoo trip, stuffed animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSelfHatingAngelOfThursday/pseuds/TheSelfHatingAngelOfThursday
Summary: Cas, upon hearing such a place exists in Kansas, tells Dean they need to take Jack to the zoo. That’s how they end up piled into Baby on a Sunday morning, headed for Kansas City Zoo.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester (mentioned)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 62





	Baby’s First Trip To The Zoo

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I won’t keep you long, I’d just like to say, thank you for the read, and I hope you enjoy!

Dean looks up into the rear view mirror, catching a glance of Jack in the back seat. Dean can’t help but smile, watching Jack with his arms wrapped around a child’s backpack(absolutely dwarfing him inside) and grinning. The backpack is Paw Patrol themed, because of _course_ it is. Jack is wearing his own clothes, which certainly completes his childlike getup. 

He’s wearing a teal woman’s shirt that goes down to the middle of his chest, baggy jeans that he got from Dean, a flannel tied around his neck like a cape, a blue tie that matches the exact shade of Cas’, and the absolute weirdest part: a bright pink, sparkly tutu.

Yeah.

Okay.

Jack is never dressing himself again.

Dean looks at Sam beside Jack, absorbed in his phone but also incapable of holding back a smile, just like Cas.

Dean allows the smile on his own face to grow slightly, tapping his fingers lightly on the steering wheel.

He speeds up just a little bit, but not by much, and pretty soon he’s turning into the Kansas City Zoo. It’d been a bit of a drive, but nothing like the ones he’s taken before, so it’s no issue of his. 

Dean, after a minute (or ten) of circling, parks Baby in a decent spot. He gets out, followed by Cas, who meets his eyes with a smile when his head pops over the hood, then Jack, who jumps out and practically skips to Cas’ side, then Sam, who is apparently the only one capable of acting normal, save for the huge grin plastered on his face.

At first, Sam had been upset that Eileen couldn’t make it, but he knew Eileen liked her independence. So Sammy made his way to the car in a sulk, resolved to teach Jack in his practice: Third Wheeling. All of that is forgotten now, it seems, because he’s looking at the zoo with bright eyes that Dean hasn’t seen in years.

Dean walks over, his footsteps falling in sync beside Cas’, and Sam does the same. Dean glances over and yep, sure enough, Jack is on the other side of Cas, looking inches away from grabbing his dad’s wrist and dragging him toward the Zoo’s entrance before them.

He’s sure they make quite the image.

Sam and Dean, decked out in flannels and jeans in late spring.

Cas, with one of Dean’s old shirts, skinny jeans, converse, and his old trench coat that he still wears in public.

Jack… well, Jack.

Dean lets out a huff of a laugh, and they enter the ticket booth line. Dean knows he’s adding to their wonderful little family portrait, but he can’t help himself anymore; he takes Cas’ hand, smiling over at him. Cas returns the smile, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Dean simply nods, before looking forward, head raised and a gentle smile set on his face.

* * *

Unfortunately, you can’t get children’s discounts if the three year old in question looks like he’s 20.

Dean did get offered a discount, though. He refused it, on the basis of the fact that the person had leaned in close to him and Sam, a hand blocking out Cas and Jack, and whispered, “I can get you a… you know… _special needs_ discount for them, though.”

Dean ended up calling them a dick, in a loud faux whisper, before taking the tickets. 

He told Cas, who waved it off with nothing but a smile, as they walked into the Zoo. 

The second they walk in, though, Dean bumps straight into Sam’s back. 

The utter mammoth of his brother had stopped dead in his tracks. 

Sammy looks down at Jack, his eyes wide. He has, virtually, the same expression as Jack.

Jack, you know, the three year old.

Sam even let out a gasp, the second Dean hit him, like the impact had reminded him to breathe.

Jack grins and yells, “come on!” before grabbing Sam by the forearm and tugging him forward. 

So Sam and Jack run to the very first exhibit together, and the next, and the next. Cas and Dean are trailing behind, their smiles wide and their hands swinging between them.

* * *

“I helped design those.” Cas says as he leans over the ropes of the flamingo habitat. 

“The… you… you designed the pink birds that stand on one leg?”

Cas looks over at him, eyebrows furrowed. “Yes. Although they were supposed to be white. They were quite beautiful,” Cas looks back to the birds, “before Gabriel messed them up.”

“Oh?” Dean asks, laughter threatening to bubble up in his throat.

“I was all set to send them down to Earth, they were near perfection. Then Gabriel wanted to mess with me. And he, being an archangel, was more powerful and more capable. So he turned them the color of Lucifer’s wings and sent them down to Earth before I could repair them.”

“He… he turned them… the color of _what?_ ”

“The color of Lucifer’s wings. They’re much more vibrant than these, though.” Cas gestures toward the birds before them. “They used to be the exact same color. But over time, Gabriel’s… dye wore off. And the vibrancy is lost in captivity too. These are probably the closest to my design that you can get.” 

“Lucifer has… pink… _pink_ wings?”

“Yes. It’s a very strong color, Dean. Bold.” Cas looks back to Dean, a very familiar squint set upon his face.

“Yeah, okay, Man.” Dean lets go of Cas’ hand to pat him on the back quickly.

“Dean, you realize we’re marri-“

“Shut up.” Dean cuts him off quickly, taking his hand.

* * *

“You know, Sam’s never been to the zoo before.” Dean says, watching Sam excitedly chatter about animals that he and Jack passed, their pace much higher than that of Dean as Cas (though they are walking now). 

“Neither have you.” Cas says, as though Dean isn’t perfectly aware. 

“Well, yeah, but…” Dean shrugs. “I’ve been everywhere.”

“Sam’s been everywhere you have, hasn’t he?”

“Sure, but… Sammy’s different. He’s different from me. Example C,” Dean gestures toward Sam and his wide, dorky grin.

“Point taken.” Cas says softly, smiling lightly at Dean.

* * *

“Oh my-“ Dean begins, but he cuts himself off, sprinting toward an open grass exhibit. 

In the little grassy area, impalas graze. 

Dean can’t help himself, he practically leans into the field, over the fence. 

The excitement is stupid, he knows, but nevertheless.

He wants to pet one.

Cas walks over slowly, and Jack and Sam join him too.

“I, um, I designed those too.” Cas says, smiling over at Dean.

“Uh, Dad, that’s not wha-“ Jack starts, but the rest of his sentence comes out in a muffled mumble.

“That’s so cool, Cas.” Dean grins, glancing at Cas. 

“Yeah.”

Dean furrows his brows a bit. “No fun facts this time?”

“Nope! No, I’ve got… nothing.”

“Huh. Okay.” Dean says. He can’t pull his eyes off of the animals for a bit longer, maybe five minutes, before he finally concedes to Jack and Sam and turns away.

In front of him, Jack whispers something to Sam, and Sam barks out a laugh, glancing over his shoulder. Dean furrows his brow, but doesn’t question it more, taking Cas’ hand and grinning at him. 

“Fate, huh? That you designed the animal that inspired my car?” Dean huffs out a breath in laughter and Cas smiles, nodding.

* * *

“Cas, look!” Jack yells from in front of them, pointing toward a cage. Cas is smiling beside Dean knowingly, like he already knows what Jack is looking at. 

Jack, meanwhile, is hopping up and down and talking to Sam beside him about whatever he had just found.

Dean and Cas reach Jack, who is pointing inside the cage at two owls. One is white, blindingly so. To the point that Dean thinks it’s reflecting the sun. 

The other, though, is a deep, dark black. A color Dean’s never even seen on an owl before. It’s beautiful.

“It’s us!” Jack says, continuing to bounce on his toes. A bright grin is etched into his features, but he takes his hand back from its point.

Cas chuckles and places a hand gently on Jack’s shoulder. “Yeah, Jack, it is.” 

Dean furrows his eyebrows, leaning in close to Cas’ ear and whispering, “what does he mean?” Because, well. He can’t help it. Generally, he’s used to the kid’s randomness, but this one seems to make sense to Cas, so…

“Oh,” Cas says, glancing at Dean and gesturing, “Jack is referring to our wings. Mine are black, merely larger and more plentiful. Jack’s are white, and much smaller. A tiny bit deformed, unfortunately, but very similar to the other owl’s.” Cas smiles at Dean. “So, in a way, they are ‘us.’”

Dean laughs lightly, before glancing back to the birds before him. The black one is curled up, its head buried in its feathers. The white one is moving sluggishly across the exhibit. They’re both gorgeous. Dean wishes he could see their full wings; perhaps get a glimpse into the true forms of both his husband and son.

Maybe one day.

For the rest of the day, Jack holds a fixation on the airborne and the waterborne animals, but the owls are a point of extra excitement.

* * *

Sammy has a problem. 

A genuine, solid problem.

He carries around a little coin purse ( _a fucking coin purse_ ) full of pennies.

“Sammy, that’s _enough_.”

“One more, Dean? Look, this is the last one-“ Sam says, dropping the penny into the machine and starting to crank it out. 

“Sam. It’s a problem.”

“Shut up. Look, man! They’re like, the cheapest little souvenirs and… you know, I don’t know when we’re coming back.”

“I’m pretty sure Jack isn’t going to let this be a one time thing.”

“Still.” Sam pulls a penny out of the dispense box, holding it up to show Dean with a childlike grin. “I just think they’re neat.”

* * *

Jack walks up to Cas and Dean, his arms piled full with stuffed animals. 

Genuinely piled. 

“Jack, we said you can pick one.”

“Well, yeah, I know. _I_ picked one, but I got some for everyone! Eileen, Auntie Rowena, Auntie Charlie, Uncle Gabriel, Uncle Bobby, I got one for all of the angels except for Aunt Naomi because Cas really doesn’t like her, I got one for all the hunters… well, the ones I know, and all of you guys, too!” Jack sets down his pile, before picking out a little bee, a black owl with giant eyes, and a lion.

He hands the bee to Cas. “This one isn’t like the other ones, because they don’t have bees here. This one was for a save the bees campaign. I think I’d like to save bees. So I got this one for you. Sam said you like bees.” 

He hands the owl to Dean. “This one’s my favorite… but I got a dolphin. So you get this one! The wings are just like Cas’... I thought you’d like it.”

He calls over Sam, before handing him the lion. “You have the same hair.” He says, smiling brightly.

“Okay.” Sam laughs lightly, looking over the lion before clutching it to his chest like a little kid.

Dean shakes his head. “Thanks, kid. I guess…” he glances at Cas.

Cas is staring at the small bee with adoration in his eyes. The same look gets shifted to Jack, before Cas says, “I’ll take them to checkout!”

Dean lets out a light chuckle, watching Cas help Jack take the stuffed animals to the counter. Cas pays for them all, already discussing names with their son as a grin finds its way onto his face. 

Sam walks over to them with the coin purse, and he pulls a flattened, oval penny out. He hands it to Jack.

Jack’s whole face brightens as he looks at the penny, before he steps forward, pulling Sam into a tight hug. His tutu flattens at his stomach, so it flares out in the back. Dean can’t help but let out a laugh, but it melts into a fond smile as he watches his family.

His _family._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear from you, either in the comments or on tumblr @theselfhatingangelofthursday! Let me know what you thought, send me another request, or just talk to me! <3


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